California - Northern

[lizanne]

way to early for maters up here. 2 years ago we had snow on May 15th .
I generally start getting it ready now and plant the mid part of May. I put Milk jugs with the bottom cut out on them at Night if need be.
Down in the Valley you may still want to wait till April 1st. or at least have access to supplies to cover tender crops.
Even upper 30's can damage tender new growth on young plants. On tomato plants and peppers they may recover from frost but will not give you the crop you hope for.

I have all my little plants in my sun window for now. I'm making a greenhouse cover for my garden, but I don't want to plant until I'm sure I can keep the chickens out. I have a1 1/2 foot raised garden bed, with a 5 foot plastic chicken fence around it. I don't know how they are getting in, unless they fly over, or jump on the coop, then jump over the fence. The funny thing is that after they get in, they can't seem to figure out how to get back out. I come home from work and check on them, and they are waiting for me to let them out of the garden.

This was part of my garden last year. I had my cucumbers growing up the back of the coop. I swear it wasn't this hard to keep them out last year!!

 

[debs_flock]

Ummmmm trying to see tiny cracks on tiny eggs is getting difficult. I had to ask my 6 year old to confirm what I thought I was seeing!

I keep a pair of reading glasses sitting with my incubators for all egg checks, LOL

Anything sensitive doesn't go in the ground until Mothers Day up here, or else you are buying it again. Cuc's get started in greenhouse, butter lettuce is already coming up and ready for thinning.

Mother's Day..............that's the old timers mantra for tomatoes here too.

This was part of my garden last year. I had my cucumbers growing up the back of the coop. I swear it wasn't this hard to keep them out last year!!

Gorgeous, I'm sure that vine appreciated being close to the chickens for the, ummmmmmmm................. you get it......

 

[debs_flock]

And thanks for all the anniversary wishes.

 

[ronott1]

I have Nine Heritage RIRs hatched. The tenth one just started zipping.

These are the first six to hatch:

 

[PetRock]

Well, I do have room now. PJ's some time over the weekend? I'd say tomorrow but today is our anniversary and we're going out to dinner tomorrow.

Happy anniversary!!!

 

[PetRock]

I have Nine Heritage RIRs hatched. The tenth one just started zipping.

These are the first six to hatch:

How cute!!!

 

[Ali707]

I have Nine Heritage RIRs hatched. The tenth one just started zipping. These are the first six to hatch:

The one on the right there seems to be bigger. I like big butts and I cannot lie........

 

[PetRock]

So now that I am finally home and just sat and stared at the quail eggs for a while, I was able to see about 8 eggs with pips or tiny cracked spots. Not yet a real hole.

Ummmmm trying to see tiny cracks on tiny eggs is getting difficult. I had to ask my 6 year old to confirm what I thought I was seeing!

One egg had a funky brown liquid on the top of it I didn't notce before. I thought I saw a crack in the same area. Any ideas what that was?

How exciting!!!! I must check mine 5 or 6 times a day and it is still 5 days until lockdown.

 

[ronott1]

Quote: The eggs were huge too!

They still look small compared to the Ducklings....

 

[HighNDryFarm]

Quote: The good Reds are making a strong come back. 30 or so years ago they were easy to find. Several years ago it was very hard. I now know of several sources of good ones.

Do you dream of Chickens too?
I was following this conversation thinking I should have appreciated the hatchery chickens we had 30 years ago....a beautiful, dark RIR, an Auracana with big feather tufts and no tail feathers...who we thought was funny looking....Barred Rocks...all the standard breads and all of them were amazing. And I think the hatchery chicks are becoming worse and worse quality. I have 4 hatchery hens and it would take you no time to pick them out of the 30+ hens I have. They look horrible! I don't ever remember getting a cockerel when you purchased sexed chicks.

Wow, this week of midterms has been kicking my butt and it took me quite a while to make my way through all the posts. Yesterday I tried to candle some of the eggs but couldn't quite tell what I was looking at, only my serama egg was clear so that got tossed. Today I looked up egg development online and saw what the size of the chicks in the egg and thought since I couldn't see anything yesterday I thought maybe something had happened and the eggs had all gone bad since I didn't really see much besides some blood vessels. I decided to try again and I saw movement! Since my flash light isn't the best I only candled some of the lighter eggs and I found embryos in 5 of 6 of the light ones!

I swear 14 days away has never felt so far. Mind you some of the reptile eggs I hatch out can take anywhere from 60 to 105 days! I guess because 2 weeks is not too far in the future I feel more impatient and it feels longer.

Try waiting 11 months for a foal! A horse's gestation is 11 months!!! I thought those mares would never foal! Chickens are instant gratification!

Quote:
Still Air, you want the temperature at 101.5 degrees. 99.5 is for bators with a fan.

ETA: I see you aren't putting chicken eggs in there. I don't know anything about temps for other fowl.
I checked my Brinsea paper and it says ducks and geese are the same temps as chickens. Just a longer gestation.

Quote: Did you get them from a breeder? I can't remember where you got them, but if they didn't come from a breeder, they won't be worth as much.

It is common practice up here to sell them as a pair. If I want a pullet I have to take a cockerel also. A few show sales areas work the same way.

Quote:
Jason, I will no longer have that glazed look in my eyes when someone hands me eggs on the side of the road. Tuesday my new Brinsea 380 cabinet incubator arrived. I've loaded one of three shelves so far, with 101 eggs!

If I really have issues, there's a stationary shelf on the bottom intended for hatching................of course that's what the three Genesis are now going to take care of.

Quote: Happy Anniversary!

I've been wanting to plant my garden, too. I've had my garden fenced off for a week as a "test run". A couple days ago I put some test squash plants in there, just to make sure they would be safe. I got home from work that night, and they were all gone.... I'm trying to figure out a good way to chicken proof my garden. Any idea's? Electric fence?

We don't plant until Mother's Day weekend...or maybe, if the weather feels like we can, a week before. Here's what our garden looked like last May! I don't know if you can see the fencing. It's about 12 feet high. The deer can't break through it, keeps the chickens out (except the ones who found a hole under the fencing last year) but you can see through it. It's expensive but a 20 year guarantee. It's been up for about 6 years I think.

Quote: Makes my mouth water! I think once they find it you're in trouble!

I have Nine Heritage RIRs hatched. The tenth one just started zipping.

These are the first six to hatch:

Wow, what size egg did the one on the right come from?